It is a common wish among family members and friends to display personal items and memorabilia of a deceased loved one during a funeral viewing. These items help family members and friends to remember the deceased and provide special memories. A typical option for displaying personal items includes using a poster board and easel to display pictures of the deceased. However, this option fails to allow a family member or friend to display items that are too big or that cannot be attached to the poster board. Items such as a favorite hat or book could not be properly mounted on the poster board, leaving the family members with no place to display these items of the deceased.
Caskets traditionally comprise a shell to which a cap or lid is pivotally attached thereto. During a viewing of the deceased individual in the casket, the cap is left open to allow relatives, loved ones, and acquaintances to view the deceased and pay their respects. As such, the under surface of the casket cap and any cap panel assembly arranged therein is visible.
Traditional cap panel assemblies include a rectangular cap panel, with a puffing member being attached to each side of the cap panel. The cap panel is positioned in the casket cap atop a ridge or groove on a bottom peripheral edge of the casket cap. The puffing members are positioned in peripheral edges along the casket cap. A rectangular cap panel insert, which may include decorative embroidery, pictures, or the like, is installed in between the puffing members and on an outside surface of the cap panel. Traditionally, the cap panel insert has been press fit into this position, establishing a friction between the puffing members, to allow the cap panel insert to remain in place. However, this technique has not always been the most reliable, because the cap panel is not able to support much weight. As a result, the cap panel insert often falls out of the cap panel assembly after the casket has been shaken or moved.
An additional method of installing the cap panel insert into the cap panel assembly includes the use of straps attached to a back surface of the cap panel insert. The straps are positioned along the length of the cap panel insert and are fastened to the cap panel insert near the lower ends of the strap. The straps are longer than the height of the cap panel insert, thereby extending over the top and bottom edges of the cap panel insert. During installation of the cap panel insert, an installer inserts the bottom strap portions between the cap panel and the puffing member by angling the cap panel insert outwards towards the installer. The cap panel insert is flexible enough to allow the installer to bow the cap panel insert, thereby inserting the top edge of the cap panel insert into the top edge of the cap panel and puffing member. Because the cap panel insert needs flexibility in order to be inserted, both the top and bottom straps cannot be fastened to the cap panel insert at the same time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cap panel assembly that allows families to decorate with memorabilia that reflects the deceased and that can also be easily removed and installed and more securely mounted in a cap panel assembly.